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P E D A L P O W E R 17 | Thursday, October 2, 2014 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com On Saturday, Wellspring Cancer Support Foundation celebrated the start of 2014 Wellspring Peloton Challenge to New Orleans from Toronto. Twenty cyclists and a team of support volunteers embarked on an seven-day, 24-hour cycling relay event in support of Wellspring Cancer Support Foundation. Wellspring volunteers, friends, families and staff gathered at Oakville's Wellspring Birmingham Gilgan House for a ceremonial ribbon-cutting and the send-off of the riders and volunteers. The ride will remain, unbroken, 24 hours a day until they reach New Orleans tomorrow (Friday), where they will be met by five Wellspring warriors -- individuals who are facing a cancer journey or who have survived their battle with cancer. For more information or to follow the riders, visit www.wellspringride.ca. | submitted photo The master craftsman From humble beginnings, Laurentide Cabinet's Harry Sihra has fashioned a company without peer Advertorial Not long after he arrived in Hamilton from Punjab, India, Harry Sihra, speaking no English, secured a job as a press operator at International Harvester. "It smelled like oil and grease," smiles Sihra, whose duties reminded him of his teenaged days as a machinist under the employ of his father, who manufactured engines. Odd jobs in the Hamilton area followed before a friend suggested Sihra inquire at Bari Kitchens. "But the owner said, `Since you can't speak English, I can't pay you.' So I said, `That's okay. I will work for free, and if you don't like what I do, don't pay me,'" Sihra recalls. "Within two days he started paying me. After a week, their installer went on holidays. I said. `I can install kitchens.' My boss said, `No you can't.' I said, `Give me a chance and if you don't like my work, don't pay me.' I had no experience, but I had the confidence to do it. There were two layers of drywall at the customer's house and the screws I brought weren't long enough to hold up the cabinets. So I went to Canadian Tire and bought four-inch screws with money out of my own pocket and installed the kitchen. The lady gave me a cheque for $600, and the next day I gave my boss the cheque. He said, `You already finished the kitchen?' He was shocked. He gave me a raise." Sihra continued to hone his skills, operating out of his garage before gradually migrating to larger facilities to accommodate his growth. He forged a loyal client list along the way that has, for more than 20 years, included homebuilders. In 2000, while providing kitchen cabinetry and doors for then-Toronto-based Laurentide Cabinet Corp., Sihra took the corporate title in lieu of payment owed, and has never looked back. Headquartered in Hamilton, Laurentide is expanding to Milton where the opening of the new showroom will be welcomed with a four-day grand opening celebration from Thursday, Oct. 2 through Sunday, Oct. 5. The quality of Laurentide's workmanship is everywhere, "and since there's no middleman, our prices are very competitive," explains Harry's daughter, Kindy. "Our company is anchored by our customer service and flexibility in our ability to customize to an individual's needs. We give you what you want; we don't sell you what we have."